1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image process apparatus and method for performing a color matching process.
2. Related Background Art
As described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/380,633 which was filed on Jan. 30, 1995, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 6-9565 filed in Japan on Jan. 31, 1994, a color management system composed of a CMM (color management module) and a device profile performs a color conversion process to perform color matching between input and output images by using a profile corresponding to a source device before conversion and a profile corresponding to a destination device after conversion.
The former profile is called as a source profile, and the latter profile is called as a destination profile.
For example, in the color conversion process shown in FIG. 1, a scanner color space (i.e., scanner RGB) or a monitor color space (i.e., monitor RGB) is converted into a printer color space (i.e., printer CMYK).
In this case, since the source device is a scanner or a monitor, the profile of the scanner or the monitor is handled as the source profile. On the other hand, since the destination device is a printer, the profile of the printer is handled as the destination profile.
FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of the structure of the device profile.
The profile is divided into a header portion and a data storage portion. In the header portion, information which is used to manage the profile is stored. For example, as such information, there are device information representing which device (e.g., monitor) the profile corresponds to, CMM information representing which CMM the profile is used for, and the like. On the other hand, in the data storage portion, profile description information for discriminating the profile is stored. As the profile description information, e.g., information representing a maker name and a product name is stored.
Conventionally, the above-described color management system has not been realized in a network system.
For this reason, there has been a drawback that it is difficult to perform color matching in the network.
An object of the first embodiment of the invention is to enable a color matching process in a network system.
In order to achieve the above object, the first embodiment of the invention provides an image process apparatus, comprising:
a communication means for communicating with a network server storing plural device profiles and color management modules;
a selection means for selecting the device profile, based on kinds of the plural device profiles inputted through the communication means;
a control means for downloading the selected device profile and the color management module from the network server; and
a color matching process means for performing a color matching process on input image data by using the downloaded color management module and the downloaded device profile.
An object of the second embodiment of the invention is to high-accurately realize color matching according to use.
In order to achieve the above object, the second embodiment of the invention provides an image process apparatus which performs a color matching process on an original containing an image portion and a portion other than image, the apparatus comprising:
an extraction means for extracting a profile added to an image file; and
a color matching process means for performing the color matching process on the original,
wherein the color matching process means performs the color matching process on the image portion by using the extracted profile as a source profile, and
the color matching process means performs the color matching process on the portion other than image by using a monitor profile as the source profile.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and the appended claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.